Redundancy payments — independent schools/colleges
Enhancement of redundancy payments
69. Employment in an independent school/ college does not count towards continuous service in maintained institutions. Nor, in most cases, are independent schools/colleges linked to each other for redundancy purposes. Consequently, each period of employment in an independent school/college will normally be regarded as separate.
72. Under Government regulations, public sector employers may disregard the normal statutory maximum for a week’s pay (currently £475) when calculating redundancy payments, but they are not obliged to do so. The Teachers’ (Compensation for Redundancy and Premature Retirement) Regulations 1997 give public sector employers discretion to use an amount up to the actual (gross) weekly salary if, as is often the case, this will result in a higher redundancy payment than the statutory sum. LAs, school governing bodies, colleges, and universities and colleges funded by the relevant agencies will have similar powers in this respect. ATL branch secretaries should be able to advise on their LA’s general policy as far as this discretion is concerned.
Example 5 70. A teacher is facing redundancy after a long career in teaching. She worked 10 years with a borough council, then moved to an independent school for five years, worked for a county council for the next four years, and has now been employed in a voluntary aided school for the past decade. Her redundancy payment will be based on the most recent 14 years’ service, because the period before this spent teaching in an independent school broke her continuity of employment in the maintained education sector. Her statutory redundancy entitlement at age 63, by reference to the statutory redundancy pay table, is therefore 21 x £475 (a week’s pay) ie £9,975 on current figures. Even if she had not had this break in service, the 20-year maximum for redundancy payments would still have applied.
Redundancy payments — re-employment via an agency 71. Some colleges dismiss staff and re-engage them through an agency. Where this happens, staff are likely to be regarded as self-employed or an agency employee, and the entitlement to redundancy pay from the college should not be affected.
14 | Redundancy
73. Independent schools/colleges are not covered by the Regulations on redundancy payments. Consequently, they face no legal restrictions and some reward loyal service by offering enhanced redundancy payments, often using actual pay, rather than the capped statutory amount.
Claiming a redundancy payment 74. In most cases, those made redundant automatically receive the appropriate payment from their employers. If, however, there is any dispute, a claim should be made in writing to the employer within six months of departure. Failure to observe this deadline could lead to the claim being judged out of time. Please note that this time limit is longer than the three-month deadline for any claim of unfair dismissal. 75. Members seeking further advice on any of the issues raised in this guidance note should contact their branch secretary or ATL’s regional office.